Commentary On Cognitive Load By Nicholas Carr

In Nicholas Carrs article Cognitive Load he theorizes that the brain can only retain so much information before it becomes too much. Carr infers that everyone has a mental capacity and once it is expended trying to learn more information becomes pointless. Carr calls this cognitive overload, when the brain exceeds the capacity of working memory. However, Carr says that cognitive overload is manageable once we become aware of how it works and how to compensate for it. I do believe everyone could have mental lapses and forget where they were going or what they were doing, I myself have found it a very common experience throughout the day. Although I agree with Carrs claim that everyone has cognitive overload at one point or another I do not
It has become part of my daily routine, I catch myself forgetting things and having to remind myself of what I was doing every other minute or so. My forgetfulness comes from absentmindedness while I am trying to complete task I get distracted and find myself wondering what I am doing or where I am going, because I was simply focused on too many things at once. While I was in Junior High I remember forgetting things almost every day of the week and having to call my parents to bring them to me, all because my brain was trying to handle more than it was capable of. Cognitive overload is supposed to be harmless, but not for my grades. I once called my dad to bring me clothes so many times for p.e that he told me the next I would just have to go without. I was pretty good about remembering after that, I would catch myself forgetting but remind myself in enough time because I was aware that I was forgetting- “The more aware we are of how small and fragile our working memory is, the more we’ll be able to monitor and manage our cognitive load” (Carr). However, it did not last long I remember forgetting again and it cost me my “A” in p.e I was the first child, in my family, to get a “B” in p.e and I don’t think I will ever hear the end of it. My dad actually told me before I left it was a good thing I didn’t need p.e this year because, I’m in college and I would probably get a
Carr puts everyone’s cognitive load on the same level, but what makes it the same? I understand people’s short term memory is limited in the amount of information it can hold and process, but does everyone’s short term memory have the same limit? Also if people can manage their cognitive load that would mean that some people would be better at managing theirs than others. In Luke Mastins article SHORT-TERM (WORKING) MEMORY he states that George Miller conducted a study in 1956 on the number of objects an average human could hold in their working memory and it was between 5 and 9, “However, although this may be approximately true for a population of college students, for example, memory span varies widely with populations tested, and modern estimates are typically lower, of the order of just 4 or 5 items” (Mastin). Mastin also goes on to further explain that short-term memory capacity is increased when helpers are used; like being read aloud instead of subconsciously. Mastin also states that more information can be recalled when it is simpler and more commonly used. Further proving that not everyone’s cognitive overload capacity is the